Police seize guns, 'porno' in search of victim's home

TARPON SPRINGS — Police executing a search warrant at the home of a martial arts instructor who was gunned down in his driveway Sunday night seized three guns and a large quantity of computer equipment.

Much of the computer equipment, including four hard drives, and several videocassettes were listed as "porno" on the search warrant inventory log. Tarpon Springs police spokesman Capt. Jeff Young declined to discuss those materials, citing the ongoing investigation of the killing.

Police also found a truck in the home's garage that matches the description of a vehicle used in a nonfatal shooting earlier Sunday in Palm Harbor, according to a spokeswoman for the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, which is investigating that crime.

The information came to light in a search warrant filed in Pinellas County court on Friday.

Joseph Brignoli, 33, was forced to kneel down before he was shot around 10:30 p.m. Sunday. Early Tuesday morning, Tarpon Springs police arrested 20-year-old Christopher Joseph Kubiak on a charge of first-degree murder. On Friday, he was being held without bail in Pinellas County Jail.

The search warrant also revealed that Brignoli had already been shot several times and had fallen to the ground when at least two more shots were fired, striking him in the head.

Police found the murder weapon, an AR-15 rifle belonging to Brignoli, at the scene near his body. They found two more weapons — another AR-15 rifle and an MP-5 submachine gun — in plain view inside Brignoli's residence at 1197 Flying Fish Lane.

The truck, a 2003 white Ford pickup, is similar to a truck seen nearby when a Palm Harbor man was shot in the face about four hours before Brignoli was killed. Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Cecilia Barreda said previously that it appeared someone was shooting at a vehicle and one of those shots penetrated a wall and hit 40-year-old Jim Freeman as he watched television in his condominium.

The Sheriff's Office said earlier this week that it's possible the two crimes are linked.

The Sheriff's Office has not released three reports it filed on the day of the killing and another the day after. All are linked to Brignoli.

One of the reports was for an incident on Sunday classified as "juvenile trouble," according to the Sheriff's Office. Another that day is described as information for the Crimes Against Children unit. Two others are categorized as information regarding a homicide and "assist other agency."